Monthly Archives: April 2015

S’mores Frappuccino

One of my favorite “unofficial” seasons of the year is girl-scout cookie season. Because my cousin is a girl scout, every year I purchase numerous boxes of cookies that I indulge in about a day or two. However, this year I will have to satisfy my sweet tooth in a different manner since I will spending girl-scout cookie season at State College (where I do not know how or where to obtain girl-scout cookies). Therefore I decided that this season, rather than eating an excessive amount of S’mores, Thin Mints and chocolate covered pretzels, I would eat and drink an excessive amount of girl-scout cookie flavored treats, like the Starbucks S’mores Frappuccino.

The Starbucks S’mores Frappuccino is perhaps one of the sweetest and most sugary drinks I have ever ordered. However, this drink was one of the most treat-resembling beverages I had ever ordered. I mean, what is a girl-scout cookie without an excessive amount of sugar? The Starbucks S’more Frappuccino tastes exactly like what I expected a S’more to taste. In fact, the only thing this beverage is missing from tasting exactly like a S’more is some coconut flavor or coconut crisp toping. Nevertheless, because this beverage has cinnamon dolce sprinkles, one will still taste that sweet after taste S’mores are known for. Also, the beverage leaves one with a nice crunchy element to eat while one drinks the beverage. Even though this drink is essentially what an icy-blended S’more would taste like, I would not recommend ordering it a size larger than a tall (small) since it is, perhaps, the unhealthiest beverage the Starbucks Secret Menu has to offer.

The Starbucks Tall S’more Frappuccino consists of ordering a Java, or Double Java Chip Frappuccino as a base and adding half a pump of Cinnamon Dolce Syrup and half a pump of Toffee Nut Syrup. Unlike other drink that one can pick whether or not to garnish their beverage with whipped cream and treats, such as chocolate sprinkles, the Starbucks S’more Frappuccino has to be ordered with whipped cream and cinnamon dolce sprinkles in order to ensure that the beverage will have a flavor that will contrast the overpowering chocolate flavor. Therefore, when ordering the Starbucks Tall S’more Frappuccino one has to tell their barista to add these elements in order to ensure that S’more flavor to be present in the beverage. However, if one wants to order this beverage in a bigger size, one must increase the pumps of syrup by one half. In other words, ordering a Grande S’more Frappuccino consists of one pump of Cinnamon Dulce Syrup and one pump of Toffee Nut Syrup, and if one wants to order a Venti S’more Frappuccino one has to add one and a half pump of Cinnamon Dulce Syrup and one and a half pumps of Toffee Nut Syrup.

Work Cited:Starbucks Secret Menu. Starbucks S’mores Frappuccino. Np. Nd. Web. April 10, 2015.

Athletics and Sexuality

Today, everyone either receives or exerts some kind of social expectation towards someone else in the community. Women expect their long time boyfriends to propose, parents expect their children to live a happy life, children expect Santa Clause to bring them their most desired toys etc. Regardless of the situation, however everyone is experiencing or has experienced some kind of social expectation at least once. Even though people may experience different types of social expectations, the one thing everyone can agree upon is the fact that the higher someone is in the social stratification latter the higher those social expectations will be. In universities, for example, athletes are perhaps depicted as one of the higher members of the social strata by students and thereby are expected to behave in a certain manner and act a certain way. However, by creating these social expectations most athletes get taken away the right to express their selves and do what they desire.

Statistics depict that 27% of all High School Athletes “come out” and that only 2% of all University Athletes “come out” (Frankel, 2014). The question of why this matter occurs remains unanswered, however many speculate that the number reflected in these statistics are the causes of fear towards social expectations. For example, On April 2014 Rutgers University Basketball Coach, Mike Rice, was fired after a video aired on ESPN show First Take in which images showed Coach Rice verbally and physically abusing the basketball team during practices by calling them names, such as “fags”, and hitting them with the basketball every time a play did not go as planned (ESPN, 2012). The video that leaked to the press caused major controversy not just because physically hurting students is an illegal act by any university staff in the United States, but also because the verbal insults told by Rice were meant to humiliate and degrade the team members (ESPN, 2012). As former NBA player, John Amaechi stated in an interview with Barbara Frankel “college sports are a space where homophobic slurs, physical and psychological abuse are not only accepted, but are also considered normal (Frankel, 2014).” As Amaechi goes on to explain, he decided to come out as gay after he concluded his career because of the “real problem with sports…[is that] they maintain separate behaviors for sports that we would never deem acceptable anywhere else. (Frankel, 2014).”

Link to ESPN Coach Mike Rice Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkeUCZ3qzK0

 Nevertheless, today numerous university athletes appear to be stating their sexuality preferences and are beginning to receive, for the most part, positive responses from their teammates. University of Notre Dame tennis player Matthew Dolley, for example, explained in an interview with HuffPost College what it was like to openly announce his sexuality preference in a team meeting (Brekke, 2014). Dolley states that his teammates responded with understanding and expressed their sympathy and acceptance towards the topic (Brekke, 2014). In fact, Dolley states that one of his teammates went as far as to saying thank you as an act of gratitude in reaction to Dolley’s courage, and that afterwards practice proceeded the team meeting like normal (Brekke, 2014). Another example of such is Fred Hartville, a University of Illinois Gymnast, who told Outsports in an interview that he was originally nervous and scared of thinking he was gay since his family always made reference to his friend, Steve Grand, as “that gay boy. (Buzinski, 2015)” Nevertheless, Hartville goes on to stress on how he began to see himself more in Steve Grand’s character, until one day he decide to hold a meeting with his team and announce that he was, indeed, gay (buzinski, 2015). According to Hartville his teammates and coaches displayed no problem or hate towards Hartville “coming out” decision (Buzinski, 2015). In fact, Hartville told Outsports that his openness strengthen relationship between his teammates and himself. Hartville also told Outsports that the manner in which his teammates carried themselves out in front of him did not change either, in fact, Hatville states that the only change that occurred within his team was the lack of use of the word “gay” and “fag”, which he considers to be positive (Buzinski, 2015).

There is no definite explanation as to why some university athletes experience different situations with their teammates in accordance with their sexual preference. Even though some university athletes experience a positive experience in which their team relationship strengthens and others believe that their sexual preference might repudiate them as an athlete, the basic ground in sports should be an athlete’s sportsmanship, not their sexual preference. The decision to feel attracted towards a certain gender should not determine how you will potentially be treated by your colleagues, and thereby the number of openly gay athletes should be higher than what statistics depict.

Work Cited:

Brekke, Kira. “Openly Gay College Athletes Explain What It’s like To Come Out To Their Team.” Huff Post College. April 17, 2014. www.huffingtonpost.com. April 8, 2015.

Buzinski, Jim. “Gay University of Illinois gymnast inspired by Steve Grand’s ‘All-American Boy.” Outsports. February 26, 2015. Www.outsports.com. April 8,2015

Frankel, Barbara. “Why Are Gay College Athetes in the Closet?”DiversityInc. 2014. www.diversityinc.com. April 8, 2025

 

Cake Batter Frappuccino

Last week Starbucks was celebrating the 20th anniversary of perhaps their most prestigious, well known and ordered drink – Frappuccino’s. Frappuccino’s were launched when Starbucks first open their doors in 1971, and since then have been a sensation. As part of the “celebration” Starbucks added to their menu a limited edition Birthday Cake Frappuccino, which was only available for the “birthday” week (from March 23– March 30). The Starbucks Birthday Cake Frappuccino was a total hit due to its extremely delicious cake batter flavor and its unique looking pink whipped cream. In fact, the Birthday Cake Frappuccino was such a hit, that I found it hard to believe Starbucks did not leave the beverage permanently in the menu in order to increase their revenue. I mean, who wouldn’t like to drink a cake flavored drink with pink frosting every now and then?

The fact that Starbucks did not decide to leave the item in the menu, and the fact that I (clearly) love coffee got me thinking and decided to do some research on whether or not it is possible to still purchase the Birthday Cake Frappuccino. Fortunately, the Secret Menu does provide a recipe that claims to create a Cake Batter Frappuccino. However, currently, it is impossible to order such since the recipe involves ordering a Vanilla Been Frappuccino and adding one and a half pumps of Hazelnut Syrup (for a Grande, two for a venti), which is one of the seasonal ingredients. In other words, if you wished to order the Cake Batter Frappuccino – the supposed alternative of the Birthday Cake Frappuccino – you would have to wait until the fall in order to get your hands on the Hazelnut Syrup and complete your order. Ordering the Cake Batter Frappuccino though, will not guarantee you the pink frosting that the limited edition Birthday Cake Frappuccino came with.

Nevertheless, the Starbucks Secret Menu Website offers an alternative in order to purchase a Birthday Cake Frappuccino. According to the website certain Starbucks Stores, will let you purchase a birthday cake flavored cake pop (the pink one displayed at the pastry section) and blend it into your Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. The logic behind this recipe lies within the idea of blending your food (like someone who could have chewing or jaw problems) in order to create a birthday cake flavor when mixed with the Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. Personally, I would rather wait until the fall and create my own Cake Batter Frappuccino by adding a couple of pumps of Hazelnut into my drink, but if you ever feel adventurous or some urge to order a Birthday Cake Frappuccino this could always be an alternative. It is important to note, however, that only certain Starbucks locations are willing to blend in cake pops, or any pastry for the matter, with your beverage so remember to ask the cashier if that specific location provides that alternative in order to avoid a $1.99 charge per cake pop ordered.

Work Cited:

Starbucks Secret Menu. “The Cake Batter Frappuccino.” Np. Nd. www.starbuckssecretmenu.net. March 8, 2015.